Moving from the transactional to the transformational
Being professionally curious in our work with families is essential to help keep children safe. It is especially important in responding to neglect where family situations can present with a range of complex issues which can seem overwhelming for the family as well as the multi-agency workforce.
However, a lack of professional curiosity is a consistent theme highlighted in Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews. In their annual reports the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel describe professional curiosity as needing to ask the ‘second question.’ This means we need to take our conversations with children, families and each other to a deeper level, and move away from a ‘transactional’ approach towards a more ‘transformational’ approach.
If we are transactional in our conversations, it means discussions are about one person asking a question, receiving a reply and then moving on to another issue without any analysis or further exploration of the detail of the reply. The conversation therefore becomes a ‘transaction’ between people.
If we are transformational in our conversations, then we ask that second question based on the reply, we analyse and triangulate the information received and consider what that all means for the children and families we support. The conversation becomes more transformational because we have a far greater understanding of what the child’s lived experience is like which in turn influences the interventions and support provided.
Let’s now take a closer look at what we mean by professional curiosity and how we make sure we get to that ‘second question.’
What do we mean by professional curiosity?
In most policies, procedures and literature professional curiosity is described as the capacity and communication skill to explore and understand what is happening within a family rather than making assumptions or accepting
things at face value.
It involves us looking out for signs that things are not right and seeking out the evidence of what is really happening. It is a combination of looking, listening, asking open and direct questions, checking out and reflecting on ALL the information we receive.
Professional curiosity can require us to think ‘outside the box’, beyond our usual professional role, and consider families’ circumstances holistically.
What are the barriers to being professionally curious?
The barriers to us being curious and asking that ‘second question’ will be different for all of us.
That’s because having certain conversations will mean different things for different people. We might avoid a particular issue because of what it raises for us personally or feel we don’t have the confidence or experience to manage a topic that needs exploring.
In addition to these reasons, practice learning reviews, both locally and nationally, identify the below common barriers.
Over Optimism
We can sometimes be willing and wanting a family to make changes to such a degree that we become overly optimistic about their ability to actually make positive changes or see the need to check the accuracy of information etc. There is then the potential to either not see at all or explain away new or escalating risks despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Taking Things at Face Value/Making Assumptions
We all come into a caring profession because we want to help make a difference in the lives of children and families. This can lead to us taking things at face value, always believing in information or explanations given to us and making assumptions based on how families present or our own values and beliefs. Our ability to always maintain an element of ‘respectful uncertainty’ is therefore challenged.
Somebody Else Must Have
Assuming ‘somebody else must have’ can stifle our conversations and actions and mean we go no further in our exploration or information gathering. If we also feel it’s not ‘our role’ to follow something up, then this can add another gap in our systems for children to fall through.
Complexity and Pressure of Workload
The complexity and pressure of workload can lead us to not being able to support families in the way we would like to. We can lose our ability to think in an analytical way and become process and incident driven.
Fixed Thinking & Confirmation Bias
We can be invested in sticking with a particular view for a range of reasons e.g. not wanting to appear wrong; believing our view is the right one. We can then open ourselves up to confirmation bias. This is when we look for evidence that supports or confirms our pre-held view, and ignores contrary information that refutes them. It occurs when we filter out potentially useful facts and opinions that don’t coincide with our fixed or preconceived ideas.
Unconscious Bias
This practice guidance has highlighted a number of times how neglect is prone to our own values and biases. Some of our biases can be unconscious. This means we are unaware of how our biases are influencing our approach and potentially leading to discriminatory behaviour and a lack of robust professional curiosity.
Overcoming the barriers…
The following simple model can be very effective in supporting professional curiosity and focuses on four key areas: Look, Listen, Ask, Checkout
Ask yourself the questions below to help you gain a greater understanding of what life is like for a child and their family.
Look
• Is there anything about what you see that makes you feel uneasy?
• Could what you see be a sign or symptom of abuse, neglect or self-neglect?
• Consider why someone is behaving a certain way; think broadly about what this might mean?
• Does what you see match with what you are being told? Could there be an alternative explanation?
• Be aware of people’s responses to questions and read body language; are they seeming reluctant to answer the question, is something being held back? If so, why might that be?
Listen
• Does something not sound right?
• Are you being told anything which needs further explanation?
• Have you spoken to the person that you are concerned about? Are they free to give their views? Can you talk to them on their own?
• Does what you hear, match with what you have seen? Could there be an alternative explanation?
Ask
• Are there questions you can ask, to explore what you have seen or been told?
• Maintain an open mind – Try to avoid making assumptions, taking information at face value and jumping to conclusions.
• Is your use of language, clear, accessible, understandable to the person you are talking to?
Checkout
• Treat what people say with ‘respectful uncertainty.’ This means take what people say seriously, but then look for other information that confirms or challenges what you have been told.
• Be the first to check out your concerns, be proactive, don’t wait for others to ask you. Can you build a picture of what is happening?
• Are other professionals involved? Have other professionals seen or been told the same as you? Are there family members you could speak to?
• Are others concerned? If so, what action has been taken so far?
• Have you recorded your concerns? Have you discussed them with a manager?
• Is there anything else which should or could be done by you or anyone else?
• Refer to your organisation’s policy and procedures.
• Consider the need to raise a safeguarding concern.